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Weis well versed on K-State after bye

Kansas coach Charlie Weis used the bye week to brush up on the history of the Sunflower Showdown. KU plays Kansas State at 11:05 a.m. Saturday in Manhattan.

LAWRENCE — With Kansas facing Kansas State on Saturday, Charlie Weis used his bye week to brush up on Sunflower Showdown history.

Weis opened his weekly news conference on Tuesday by reciting the date of the first football game between the two rivals — “1902. I got it,” he said — and traced the evolution of the Governor’s Cup, first awarded in 1969.

Before that, the schools played for something called the Peace Pact Trophy, which according to Weis (and Wikipedia) was a miniature set of goalposts designed to keep fans from tearing down the real ones after a win.

“That didn’t work out too well,” Weis said.

Weis took time Sunday to share this history with his players, many of whom are experiencing their Sunflower initiation this week. That group includes quarterback Dayne Crist, a California native who knew little about the rivalry before he transferred from Notre Dame.

“It was going back to stress the importance of this game and what this rivalry should mean for us,” Crist said.

Beyond the history lesson, KU’s bye also allowed Weis to conduct a more thorough film study than a normal week would permit. He said he watched every Wildcat player on every snap played this season, then provided a detailed scouting report to KU’s corresponding position groups.

“I went and just watched the left guard,” Weis said. “Then I met with the defense on Sunday and said, ‘Here’s the left guard. Is this who you’re going against? This is who he is.

“This isn’t just how tall he is. This isn’t his name and his hometown. This isn’t his status in school. This is who he is.”

The bye week came at an appropriate time for the Jayhawks, and not just because they needed the reprieve after a 1-3 start. The Jayhawks spend much of their time preparing for the wide-open spread offenses prevalent in the Big 12, but K-State presents an entirely different preparation.

“A game like this, this is like playing one of the academies,” Weis said. “You’re playing against a team where if you’re not ready for what they do, you’re going to be in for a long, long day.”

The Jayhawks spent some time looking in the mirror, too, after blowing a pair of fourth-quarter leads during the first month of the season. KU conducted full-contact workouts last week, and Weis took the rare step of removing the red jerseys that usually prevent his quarterbacks from taking hits in practice.

“I think we have to get better at playing physical football,” Weis said. “It’s part of teaching people how to finish, which has been one of our bigger problems, as has been well documented. I think there’s only one way of doing it, and that’s old-fashioned football.”

Weis knows his history well enough to expect the same kind of football from K-State on Saturday.

“This is not a trickery and deceit team,” Weis said. “They’re going to smash it down your throat.”

INJURY REPORT — The bye week gave KU a chance to heal some bruises, providing a clean injury report for Saturday’s game.

“Even the guys who were banged up the last time we played, they’re all on the go list,” Weis said.

That presumably would include running back Taylor Cox, who was injured early in KU’s loss to Northern Illinois. Cox was in pads and went through drills at full speed during the portion of Tuesday’s practice open to reporters.